274 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepaticce of the Pyrenees. 



Presuming the identity of our plant with the Pterogonium hetero- 

 pterum of Schwaegrichen, and its diversity from the Hypnum catenU' 

 latum of the same author, to be sufficiently established, I have further 

 to remark that the Pterigyn. heteropterum of Brid. /. c. is surely a 

 different plant from that of Schwaegrichen ; for it has " rami inor- 

 dinate fasciculati," and " theca erecta oblonga, omnino Pterigynan- 

 dri" to which is added " Inter P. gracile etjiliforme intermedium." 

 These characters point rather to a form of P. filiforme, with which 

 species we find Schwaegrichen identifying it, at the close of his de- 

 scription, in these terms : " Hunc museum propterea pingi cura- 

 veram, ut botanicorum curse commendaretur et fructus completi 

 exquirerentur ; sed acceptis nuper a Bridelio speciminibus, illud a 

 Pt.filiformi non difFerre convictus sum." He erred, however, in 

 supposing his moss the same as Bridel's, and consequently a var. of 

 P. filiforme, which may be excused him from the circumstance of his 

 possessing only barren specimens. 



It still remains to inquire what is the veritable Hypnum catenulatum 

 of Bridel and Schwgr. ; but I fear this question can only be settled 

 by a reference to the herbaria of these authors. The moss pub- 

 lished under that name in Schimper's ' Stirpes Normales,' &c. 

 agrees with Schwaegrichen's description in the " folia obesa et 

 mollia .... stria utrinque marginali brevi," and in the nerve, &c., 

 but the inflorescence is certainly dioicous, while Schwaegrichen, 

 whom it is difficult to suppose mistaken on this point, states that of 

 his moss to be monoicous. A moss agreeing perfectly with Schimper's 

 has been found by Mr. Ibbotson on Pen-y-ghent in Yorkshire, and 

 the H. catenulatum of Drummond's 'Musci Americani,' No. 219, is 

 possibly not specifically distinct. These three mosses are all sterile, 

 and their identification is consequently the more difficult, if not quite 

 impossible. I gathered the same moss in the Pyrenees in numerous 

 stations, extending between the extreme limits of my explorations 

 to the westward and eastward, yet always sterile, which would be 

 inconceivable in a monoicous species distributed over so wide a space. 

 However, rather than propose a new name for it, I am willing for 

 the present to receive it as //. catenulatum. 



16. H. catenulatum, Brid. ? Mant. Muse. p. 167 ; Sehwgr. ? 

 Suppl. P. 2. p. 218. ''Leskea Vaucheri, Schimp.^' M. P. 82. 



Hah. Zj sup. in saxis arborumque radicibus per Pyrenseos occi- 

 dentales et centrales, baud raro cum Leskea attenuata et nervosa 

 sociatum. 



I gave this moss in ' Musci Pyrenaici ' as Leskea Vaucheri, Schimp., 

 from a comparison with specimens under that name in Dr. Montagne's 

 herb, at Paris ; but I have since learnt that M. Schimper really in- 

 tended by Leskea Vaucheri the species mentioned in this catalogue as 

 L. nervosa, and it is therefore not improbable that the tuft I examined 

 contained both species, for they frequently- grow intermixed and are 

 quite similar in habit. Very lately I have received from M. Schimper 

 fertile si)ecimens of H. catenulatum ; the capsule and operculum are 

 much of the same form as in H. heteropterum, and the processes of 



